Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Good times

Well its been a few weeks what have i done??well deposited $100 in stars got it up to $500 long story short i tilted for something very small and jumped to $3-6 goodbye roll:( Played very little live in the last month $100 freezeout in clonmel and one drunken little game in the bank where i got busted bad for about €450:(

So to the good times well the big slick festival was last weekend so i had a sattelite ticket from dungarvan a few months ago even though i didnt fancy the journey i got a feeling i had to go this was the morning after busting my stars money.I got down anyway was sitting on a table with steve k and i think bops from boards then this guy sits down beside me i take no notice until theres a 3 way allin pot when i look at him i quickly look back its none other than marty smith irish open winner.I play relatively tight and didnt pick up many hands early on got to the rebuy stage and after this i just kept chipping away taking down pots in positon untill the big one came my QQ i raise pretty loose poor player shoves had been showing poor Aces since i sat down he turns over AK i hold up and make it in to the tickets by playing ABC poker.

I sit down at the main event table im on the same table as last years winner john ward(won last event) who i knock out also john quinn and waterford man dave mccarthy.I remained on my table for most of the 2 days players came and went ken corkery amassed massive chips on my left.how did my play go well for the best part of the first 3 levels i was hand dead and wasnt going to get involved lightly.Then gary power sits down to deal and the hands came rolling in AA KK QQ AK along with hitting flops.I did make one mistake early on i had 3 betted a position raise lightly he called even lighter 3 spades fall on flop i bet he calls 4th falls on turn i check he bets i raise he calls i know im now beat so i dont fire out river he takes it down with the 3rd nuts.
Here is a crucial hand from the first day

UTG+1 QQ i raise 600 blinds 100-200 and button andSB call
Flop 10x Jx Qx bet 1500 button folds SB call
Turn Ax he checks i decide to check
River Jx he bets 2400 i raise to 6500 he shoves covering me im left with approx 8000
Can i put him on AA not really JJ unlikely I call and hope!he turns over AJ double up

Just kept picking up nice hands along with making few mistakes.My next table was one that contained Fox,seamus aldridge,smurph,paddy tobin,keith cummins and nicky power would join it.Didnt pick up many hands AK twice 55 took down a few positional raises.Made a big lay down with AQ against keith cummins shove he turns over AJ.Lost a race AQ against 1010 to a small stack.Shoved into nickys BB twice with rubbish SB BB situation worth about 20000 each time he showed 22 the second time before taking a few moments to fold funny hand for him;)he would have been due a win with that hand!!

Then my final move of the night came my next table included flushdraw,jen mason,pat storan and ian whitty.I was pretty short stacked at 110,000 when on the bb jen mason pushed i look down at 10 10 i call she turns over 99.The flop is 2 5 6 turn 8 river 9 the €37000 card:(:(
I take 21st and €900 not a bad oul weekend i guess but what could have been.

Played the bank monday night extreme drunk found a v soft cash game bought in round €200 cashed out €1050 cant remember much about it.where to now dont really know will let ye know when i do.:):):)

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Will one ever learn

Well where do i start i suppose been playing a small bit in the macau once twice a week playing a different style to the last few months more solid not seen as much flops with marginal hands etc... its been working to an extent still havent lost a stack in there in the 4 or 5 times i have played im probably up around the €500 mark there but not making a fortune due to tight play.I played one tournament there and got busted with a hand which i posted on boards due to the criticism i received.here it is.

Il give the details first im in late position 10 handed im playing 4200 from a starting stack of 5000 blinds are 100-200.There is 2 limpers and player to my direct right raises to 600 i have AxKx.What should i do here raise flat call shove?I decide to raise to 1800.Folded to utg player who is playing 4000 he shoves.Player seems to be tight solid enough player.Action is folded around to me im left with 2400.Can I fold this ever?I decided to call he turns over QQ.I hit A and get busted by Q on river.

I played a small bit online with very small profit nothing to talk about really.I played the student tourny in the bishopstown bar last night as i just needed something different.€10 and €5 rebuys the standard was just horrible me and the lad with me were so far ahead of every player it wasnt funny.44 players i came 4th for €60 bit disappointed as first payed €370 and 2nd €210 but it was to much of a crapshoot blinds were 20000-40000 i had 120000 in my exit hand chipleader might have had 300000.I would most likely make the money in this every night if it was not for the structure.Still fun game just beside the house will play it again nice change from the seriousness of the casino.I found my exit hand funny.

I push on button for my stack 120000 blinds 20000-40000 BB is playing 140000 if he folds i figure he will fold sb is chip leader so he needs big hand to call.I push my J7 sb folds bb goes in the tank he says "ah shure boy ya gotta gamble sometimes i call do you have a J or a Q" i sigh turn over my hand and to the delight of someone in the crowd "well done boy you caught him bluffing i knew he was" one of these days they will read a book and discover position raises :)

So to the business end of things we go enda and drink = lots of money down the drain :(.I decided to play the new casino in cork the bank twice recently both times really drunk.Nothing to report the first night made €15 game was fishy enough i think if memory serves me correct maybe 1 or 2 good players there the rest v.poor.The next visit proved to be very different i was faced with a very high standard was so drunk cant remember how many players exactly.3 come to mind one well known cork pro,one player who i have had dealings with over the last few months and player on my right were all good.I suppose for been drunk my first hand was not a terrible way to lose my buyin which was €300 i reckon may not have lost it sober im not sure would have had better read on player.

4 handed utg raise to €12 with AxKx i think bb calls flop Kx 8x 5x.He checks i bet €25 he raises to €100 we play same stacks i think.I shove maybe he re raises with KQ but most likely not he would have bet that hand out in retrospect i should have folded but i guess ive lost with worse hands while drunk.He turned over 55.

Next hand was against highly respected player i remember a lot less about the hand button raise to €12 i think, i call with 10 7 flop is something like 10x 8x 2x i check he bets i raise he shoves i call turn comes 10 i claim the pot.I said i had a read on him at the time god knows what kind of read it was.He claimed to have QQ i asked to see his cards i wanted to see if my read was right he objected in the end i relented and let him muck.It was the wrong thing to do but again the drink helped.The pot was worth around €700 and i broke even for the night roughly.

I may not have lost anything but i had to suck out to break even and i think i will have to stop paying visits while drunk as i do not like making profit out of bad beats and it is very rare im behind when the money goes in on a big stack clash.

Well on a final note oul Mr.Paddy Power has came back the haunt nearing the end of a 30 hour drinking binge i decide to pay him a visit i decide to multitable $10-20 for a $2400 loss in about the space of a half hour nothing like the feeling of putting the bread on the table for a scandinavian for a couple of weeks.I wont go in to hand detail as its just crazy not even poker im going to try get them to put a max deposit in any 24 hours to stop this happening.

Dont have much plans for the short term would have played IPO only for the hassel in registering.I deposited €10 in pp have to work it up to $100 dollars before i allow myself into a casino again.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Highs and lows

Well had a few ups and downs been quiet enough of late mainly spend last week 4 tabling with a small degree of success was up around €100 until thursday when i got tilty and donked away around €70 need to stop that rubbish €100 is the figure im lookin to make multi tabling irish eyes it would cover my college week basically.I made one visit to the macau where i came away with €30 profit was pretty card dead.My next little incident was sunday night when i was tired hungover and bored decided to cash in €100 to play a few tournaments on i poker but i just got bored and threw $80 into $400 nl i ost it got tilty said id cash in $250 into $1000 nl and lost that to why do i decide to do these stupid little things il never know.That brings us up to last night made a visit to the macau for a little cash game hit no cards at the start when i finnaly hit a big hand i was behind think i must share this one

I limp in early position with As3s 6 0r 7 limpers flop comes 9s 6s 3x
player in mp bets €2 around 5 call i call turn brings a 3x i bet €25 i get 2 callers
river brings a spade i have the nut flush player in bb bets €25 i put him on flush so i make it €65 mp calls the bet and bb calls i assume im collecting the pot until mp turns over 99 never saw that coming

In the end i hit a nice run and made nearly €500 in a hour which left me up €300 for the night.

Dont know what the week holds may play clonmel friday night or the scalp tournament sunday

Sunday, September 16, 2007

The inevitable

well hello there 8 15 am on a sunday morning yes i am up early well not exactly jus off green joker spent the week building a bankroll cashed in $270 made it up to $750 multi tabling $0.25-50 3-4 tables quiet nice play might i say was rather proud of my disciplinend worked a roll up quiet well!Then 4 days in saturday night arrives and i decide to play a little i decide to shortstack $0.50-1 omaha pretty fishy so i decide to buy in full and play quiet good build my stack to approx $800 before stupidly bluffing a hand which he shouldnt have called then getting out drawn twice and a small amount of tilt cost me all my bankroll.what a terrible night :( oh but wait why stop there why not cash in €600 in my account and play a little €2000 nl ah yes why not oh and 3 handed sure why not +ev of course;) JJ on the button flop 997 i raise 2 60 playing $500 ish bet flop $100 he calls i push turn he calls k9 good luck ul nh wp not realli complaining i deserved it reckon if i was more fishy id make more jumping in at these stakes but it hurts me to suck out well i prob would survive!!so here i am hitting d bed rather depressed but suppose i can take 1 little thing that been i was able to multi table a bankroll at low stakes hold em but good oul high roller enda went in to full action:(same problem as i had live in atlantic city $1-2 just wouldnt do had to move up and up)

so where now well i guess il sleep on it il play cork once during the week will try bankroll myself again online

tip:+ev staying in cahir trying women even if failing
-ev going home playing hig stakes on i poker

do you know the one thats one to many

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

bad times

Played the big slick 50 rebuy again was playin well had a nice stack until just after the break where i was playing 25000 and the player before me raised to 6000 i pick up 1010 a hand that has been haunting me the last few days.I went in to serious thought as i new the player had a big hand AK AQ AJ AA-88 i went through thoughts of re raising all in but decided to flat call.the flop comes A 5 5 the players at this tournament allways bet a hand so when he checked i felt i had him so i bet 8000 he takes ages and decides to call i really felt he was not able to lay down KK QQ so when the check came on turn i pushed all in and received an instant call he had AA i wasnt to disappointed as i felt it was not the wrong move going on the table play.

Then to the cash game these are the type a games i need to avoid as it played similar to a clonmel cash game where i was gettin way to involved in every hand in order to outflop my opponent and get paid.The table was extremly weak and one player was unreal drunk i tried to trap him with the worst play of the night where i limped with yes of course 1010 he raised 17 i reraised to 70!!!(yes 70 wat a stupid reraise)i had around 130 behind me he pushes i cringe dont know why should have seen it coming.The nice lad that he was he had the courtesy to tell me he had KK he would show it to me i was throwing away my money if i called unless i had AA i believed him he throws over KK what a honest lad.It continued like this my QQ was no good on an A flop my AA managed not to get close to been payed off.The rubbish i limped and raised with couldnt even give me a draw so i left down 270 in what was possibly the worst poker i have played sober in months.The other lad with me jamie had the same luck only he hit hands only to be raped on the river!!!

Ah well internet poker for the rest of the week i reckon trying to get money on stars or full tilt although should be playing my bonus on green joker poker.

Monday, September 10, 2007

The clonmel cash league final

Well woke up sunday sick from drink hit the leisure centre for a little relaxation,i decided to play a little cash online before i went in for the tournament.I 2 tabled €50 plo on irish eyes and played some of the worst poker of my life as well as not hitting it all ended in tears i managed to lose €100 and not a great start to my online poker life.

So to the cash league final 15 players €5000 in the pool 4 players paid,2200,1300,1000,500.I started the day on 8175 chips average been just over 9000.I started well took down a few small pots allways stayed well stacked got nicely payed with a middle set.I was one of the chip leaders come the break it was after the break my stack started to fall i went card dead,struggled to steal blinds i went as low as 10 big blinds at one stage.It got very tight 6 handed and i was delighted to see 2 big stacks clash 88 vs 99 and we are down to 5.I was in a great spot here as i held 10 and 20 percent in 2 of the lads left and i was still the low stack.We decided to split 4th in to €300-200 and so there went the bubble.The next exit was john burke and now we were left with 4 all from cahir.The deals then continued as me and jamie agreed to split 50-50 as we had even stacks.Emmet was the next to exit as steve increased his stack.I managed to get my stack close to steves by the stage we got 3 handed and jamie was low stacked with less than 10 bb but he went into agression mode and before we know it we have an all in and called steves 2 pair against jamies top pair and flush draw which hits on the river.Then we are on to heads up a new one for me and jamie i manage to suck out with my flopped flush all in pre flop 6s9s against Ax6x and so the waterford crystal was headin my way.

1-enda kendrick- 1750
2-jamie barlow-1750
3-steve kirwan-1000
4-emmet saunders-300
5-john burke-200

So its big slick in dungarvan tonight after that im unsure what the week holds maybe a trip to the macau before my full time move next week.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

So monday brought the big slick €50 with 1 €25 rebuy in dungarvan.This was a journey into the unknown i travelled down with one of the lads jamie there was 22 players i think starting it proved to be interesting i found the players to be weak tight and increased my stack nicely with positional raising and c-betting along with picking up a couple of hands.I was chip leader for most of the tournament until it got 4 handed when one of the players who i felt to be the weakest of the players left starting sucking out on the players around me.When we got 3 handed a deal was made that the low stack got €25 off me and chip leader to forfeit the two €100 tickets that were up for grabs.In the end i got heads up with only 25% of the chips i got my money all in with A 9 against A8 was sucked out by a 8 on flop.In the end i received €300 cash and €100 ticket along with the €130 profit from what was a poor shorthanded cash game.I guess it was a good nights work and dungarvan shall see me again :)

Tuesday brought a nice friendly sng in the pub where my play was pretty dreadful.It may have been only a fun game as such but the money was nice in the end my top pair all in on flop was no good for second pair which hit set on turn!!Down €20 in a ridiculous cash game and what a donation of €50 yours for a night.

Wednesday night was a night for travelling so i threw emmet and steve in the car and after much debating whether we would hit new ross,waterford or clonmel where grahams texts nearly had us in there.It was decided new ross would be the venue as i had never even been in wexford in my life,talk about not getting out!!It was to our dismay that there was no game going in new ross so turned the car around and headed for blazing aces.So we entered the furnace and there proved to be to cash games on the go.I found the game down here as usual to be ultra aggresive and big pairs were there to be busted.The fun started soon enough steve and boogeyman from boards clashing allmost every hand not even sure who came out ahead.Then the tables joined and we were graced by the pleasure of neill kelly who was keeping the table entertained with blind all ins.I didnt think much of my play if i bet a draw i couldnt hit if i bluffed a hand i was caught.I had 10 pocket pairs see a flop without hitting a set one of those nights that things dont go your way.In the end KK managed on two occasions to win me big pots on one of them i had to make a big call to what i believed to be a bluff which proved correct.I have to say i quiet enjoyed the game great banter and came out €75 up so thats never bad when i was hitting big.I did feel i got a bit deep i was in for €500 this is one thing i may need to control as a student.

Clonmel cash league final sunday is the big one!!

Monday, September 3, 2007

The early days

Interesting start to my student life i decided to pay a visit to dublin my choice of venue been the sporting emporium.I cashed in the sum of €200 didnt hit much for a while then i got my double up with AcQc on a top pair flush draw turn,the cards kept running good and i built my stack up to a nice €600 before getting two small stacks all in with K K for a pot of 200 where 10 5 and 3 3 managed to finish the hand ahead of K K.I decided to leave with a nice profit of €300.The next choice of venue was the €25 freezeout in clonmel with 14 runners felt i played it nicely made no mistakes chipped away at some a the weak players made the final two where i decided to split with the chip lead so took down €150 and was pretty pleased with my play.Then it all turns nasty i think im announcing my retirement from cash games in clonmel.I cash in €200 down a small amount when two drunk agressive players enter the game yet i managed to run my top pair top kicker into his flopped top set i was allways losing my money here after seeing the player lose 2 buyins in 20 minutes rather crazily.Then you have the lowstacks who sit there all night cashing in €50 call your€25 raise with Ac4c along with the two crazy lunatics the flop comes K high,I bet €75 with AxKx,lunatics fold small stacks goes all in for ten turns a flush!!Im down €300 for the session and the honeymoon period is over.

What does the week hold in store for me,well as i post this im preparing to go to dungarvan for a big slick €50 rebuy and a cash game i imagine.Then there is the cash league final in clonmel on sunday with a €5000 pot and approx 18 runners so lookin for a result there although im not massively stacked.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

A little info

Here i am out in the working community with 18 months and not a lot to show for it:( So how does one survive life as a student for the next two years?Well as a winning poker player could this be the way to survive my new life in cork????Where do i start can i make the transition from a winning live player to a winning online player or will i have to try grind my money out of the macau(or donate)!!I have not decided my plan as of yet will probably try grind at some level between $50 nl and $200nl or plo or maybe consider sng a less likely option a far cry from the dizzy heights of jumping in between $1000- $5000 nl,when it comes to live i shall hope to just sit in macau €1-2 as it has been kind to me so far also not forgetting the weekends in clonmel.Tournaments will have to take a backfoot as i could not take the downswings involved,a must for me is the waterford open main event.Thats the low down life as a student poker player kicks off 1st of september